Fred Warren

Head Coach

Entering his 31st season at ETSU and his 39th year overall, Hall of Fame head coach Fred Warren continues to build a winning tradition for the Buccaneers, guiding them into the national spotlight on a yearly basis.

During his tenure with the Blue and Gold, Warren has positioned the Buccaneers on a national level. Below is an inside look at the numbers during Coach Warren’s time at ETSU…

53 team wins

21 NCAA Regional appearances

14 NCAA Championship appearances

23 All-Americans

20 All-American Scholars

16 Conference Championship Titles

18 Conference Player of the Year honors

9 Conference Freshman of the Year winners

63 All-Conference Selections

6 Palmer Cuppers (12 total appearances)

11 Coach of the Year honors

2 NCAA District Coach-of-the-Year honors

8 straight years of receiving academic honors from the Golf Coaches Association of America; claimed 2009 Academic National Champion honor

Since his arrival in 1986, the Warren-led Buccaneer program has been a consistent performer among the nation’s elite, finishing in the top 13 six times and in the top 25 13 times – including a third-place finish at the 1996 NCAA Championships and a ninth-place finish in 2001.

Just three years after arriving in Johnson City, Warren returned ETSU to the top of the Southern Conference, a position where the Bucs remained for 12 of the next 17 years. Warren led the Bucs to league titles from 1989-92, 1994-96, 1998-2001, and in 2005, his 14 championships broke the 54-year-old SoCon record of 11 titles held by longtime Duke golf coach Ellis "Dumpy" Hagler, making Warren the winningest men’s golf coach in SoCon history. After making the move to the Atlantic Sun Conference from 2006-14, ETSU returned to the SoCon in 2015 and Warren’s group picked up right where they left off by winning the conference crown for a 23rd time in program history (13th SoCon title under Warren).

The Bucs advanced to the NCAA Championships in 1989 and 1992, from 1994 to 2001, and also made the field in four straight seasons (2005-08). Warren was a runner-up for National Coach-of-the-Year honors following the 1995-96 season.

Of his 53 wins at ETSU, Warren led the Bucs to the 2001 NCAA East Regional title at Williamsburg, Va. During the 2000-01 season, his squad won four tournaments, including three straight from April to May. Even more impressive, his 1995-96 team won six events, tying national champion Arizona State and Florida for the most tournament wins during the year, and was ranked as the No. 1 team in the country during part of the year.

The Bucs enjoyed a decorated year both on the course and in the classroom in 2014-15 as Warren’s club won three tournaments, including the Southern Conference Championship en route to advancing to the NCAA Regional. To go with its win at the conference championship, ETSU – who cracked the top 25 rankings during the year – also notched victories at the Inverness Intercollegiate and at The Greenbrier Collegiate Invitational. Overall, the Bucs finished the year ranked 39th by Golfstat. ETSU’s successful season also featured a SoCon Player of the Year, two All-Conference selections, an All-Freshman Team member, an All-American and one Palmer Cup player. Adrian Meronk – who ranked as high as 38th in the World Amateur ranks – received All-American honors by PING and Golfweek, earn SoCon Player of the Year honors and became the sixth Buccaneer to play in the Palmer Cup. Meronk was also one of a record-setting five ETSU golfers to receive Cleveland Golf/Srixon All-America Scholars, while all eight student-athletes on the 2014-15 roster earned SoCon Academic honors as the Bucs posted a team GPA of 3.61 en route to earning the President’s Special Recognition accolade.

Warren joined the Buccaneer program from collegiate golf power Oklahoma State, where he served as an assistant coach. During his tenure in Stillwater, the Cowboys won three Big Eight championships and finished as NCAA Tournament runners-up on three occasions. Warren began his coaching career at Texas Christian University, where he led both the men’s and women’s programs from 1979-84. While at TCU, his Horned Frog men’s team finished fourth at the 1980 NCAA Championships and posted a 27th-place finish in 1983. That year he became the first coach to ever place a men’s and women’s team in the NCAA Tournament field during the same season. He guided the women to the 1983 NCAA title and a runner-up finish the previous year. He was named Southwest Conference Men’s Coach-of-the-Year in 1980 and was the SWC Women’s Coach-of-the-Year choice in 1983. In October 2000, Warren was inducted into the TCU Horned Frog Hall of Honor, and in 2003 he was named a TCU "Legend."

Warren has taught in Golf Digest Instruction Schools, in the Oklahoma State Golf Schools, the North Carolina Golf Schools, the Georgia Academy of Golf, at Purdue University and at the NIKE All-Star Golf Camp. He has served as a member of the NCAA Division I Men’s Golf Committee and as the Chair of the Southern Conference Golf Coaches and as a Chair of the GCAA All-America Selection Committee. Warren also has served on the Golf Coaches Association of America Ethics Committee and on the GCAA National Advisory Board.

Warren played his collegiate golf at UCLA while earning a bachelor of arts degree in speech. He received a Master of Science degree in education from Oklahoma State. He served as a U.S. Marine Corps officer from 1974-78 and was honorably discharged, reaching the rank of Captain. Warren is active in several ETSU student organizations. Warren is currently a member of the Board of Directors for Washington County Humane Society and the Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA) National Advisory Board.